After 24 years since his first appearance in the 2001 The Fellowship of the Ring, fans are just now discovering that one of The Lord of the Rings' funniest lines by its most treasured character, Gimli, was actually completely improvised. Played by John Rhys-Davies, Gimli was a stout-hearted, fierce, and loyal dwarf warrior who was also the son of Glóin, a member of Thorin's company in Tolkien's earlier book The Hobbit. With his fiery red hair and beard, along with a temperamental personality, it's of little wonder that his name literally means "fire", which comes from one of Tolkien’s Mannish dialects.
Hailing from Wales, Rhys-Davies was in his 60s when he took on the role of the fearless dwarf, but he was also in another popular franchise other than The Lord of the Rings that some fans might not have known. Davies played Sallah, an Egyptian excavator, in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark and later reprised the same role in two subsequent Indiana Jones films. As well as appearing in The Untouchables, Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists, Star Trek: Voyager, One Night with the King and countless other TV and movies, Davies lent his distinctive voice to many video games and animated television series, including the role of Hades in Justice League, the original voice of Man Ray in SpongeBob SquarePants and also to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. And for those who didn't know how multitalented the actor actually was, he also voiced an Ent called Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
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Gimli’s “Not the Beard!” Line Started as a Joke Between Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies
During the By Beard and Hammer! Adventures with John Rhys-Davies panel at Fan Expo Denver, where ScreenRant was also present, Lord of the Rings' John Rhys-Davies uncovered a bit of magical lore behind Gimli's most iconic line. In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where the group tries to get away from the Balrog by leaping over huge steps, Gimli states that Dwarves do not get thrown, which sees Legolas grabbing his beard before he falls to the depths below as Gimli exclaims "not the beard!".
Rhys-Davies explained the scene by revealing that he almost fell and Orlando Bloom grabbed his beard by mistake, allowing for the now iconic line to be kept in.
"We were doing a scene with the green screen, and we were jumping from place to place. And I sort of jumped like that, very deliberately tottered. And I remember [Orlando Bloom] just reached out because he thought I was going to fall off this little block. And he grabbed my beard, and I grabbed his hand in a vice-like grip and snarled at him. "Not the beard." "
Out of all The Lord of the Rings characters, Gimli certainly provides the most amount of comic relief, especially during trying times for the adventuring group. Although "not the beard" is a fantastic line, it's certainly not his only one. Some other classics include, "Aye, I could do that" to Legolas after their competitive rivalry calmed down, and he was asked if he would fight the final battle "side-by-side with a friend." Although his most iconic is likely where Aragorn offers his sword and Legolas his bow, before Gimli adds his own weapon to the pledge by saying "And my axe!."
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- Release Date
- December 19, 2001
Cast
-
Elijah WoodFrodo -
Ian McKellenGandalf -
Liv TylerAragorn -
Viggo MortensenSam
WHERE TO WATCH
- Runtime
- 178 Minutes
- Director
- Peter Jackson
- Writers
- Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Prequel(s)
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Sequel(s)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Franchise(s)
- The Lord of the Rings
Source: ScreenRant